java.security
Interface Key

The Key interface is the top-level interface for all keys. It
defines the functionality shared by all key objects. All keys
have three characteristics:

An Algorithm

This is the key algorithm for that key. The key algorithm is usually
an encryption or asymmetric operation algorithm (such as DSA or
RSA), which will work with those algorithms and with related
algorithms (such as MD5 with RSA, SHA-1 with RSA, Raw DSA, etc.)
The name of the algorithm of a key is obtained using the
getAlgorithm method.

An Encoded Form

This is an external encoded form for the key used when a standard
representation of the key is needed outside the Java Virtual Machine,
as when transmitting the key to some other party. The key
is encoded according to a standard format (such as
X.509 SubjectPublicKeyInfo or PKCS#8), and
is returned using the getEncoded method.
Note: The syntax of the ASN.1 type SubjectPublicKeyInfo
is defined as follows:

This is the name of the format of the encoded key. It is returned
by the getFormat method.

Keys are generally obtained through key generators, certificates,
or various Identity classes used to manage keys.
Keys may also be obtained from key specifications (transparent
representations of the underlying key material) through the use of a key
factory (see KeyFactory).
NOTE: java.security.Identity is found in J2ME CDC profiles such as
J2ME Foundation Profile.

getAlgorithm

Returns the standard algorithm name for this key. For
example, "DSA" would indicate that this key is a DSA key.
See Appendix A in the
Java Cryptography Architecture API Specification & Reference
for information about standard algorithm names.

Returns:

the name of the algorithm associated with this key.

getFormat

Returns the name of the primary encoding format of this key,
or null if this key does not support encoding.
The primary encoding format is
named in terms of the appropriate ASN.1 data format, if an
ASN.1 specification for this key exists.
For example, the name of the ASN.1 data format for public
keys is SubjectPublicKeyInfo, as
defined by the X.509 standard; in this case, the returned format is
"X.509". Similarly,
the name of the ASN.1 data format for private keys is
PrivateKeyInfo,
as defined by the PKCS #8 standard; in this case, the returned format is
"PKCS#8".

Returns:

the primary encoding format of the key.

getEncoded

public byte[] getEncoded()

Returns the key in its primary encoding format, or null
if this key does not support encoding.

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